Fortune Teller
by Yemam2422
Summary: DL. Danny and Lindsay visit a fortune teller with interesting results.
1. Fortune Teller

I'm calling this a one-shot with the possibility for more – not sure yet.

A tremendously huge thanks to **mel60** for the beta help.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"You're entering a new phase in your life, young man."

"Oh yeah?" Danny smirked at the eccentric Lady Esmeralda sitting across from him at a small round table, examining the supposed life lines on his palm. She was draped in layers of fabric and jewelry and every motion resulted in a clatter from her stacked bracelets. Lindsay was standing behind him, smiling.

Ever since he'd told her about the lizard man and bearded lady he'd encountered at Coney Island during the Russian mob case, she'd wanted to see them for herself. They rode the ferris wheel, played some games, had their fill of cotton candy and fried dough. When Lindsay saw the fortune teller's booth she excitedly yanked him in, despite his dragged feet and protests that it was silly, and plopped him onto the chair. _If you don't believe in it then it won't hurt you_, she had reasoned.

Danny Messer was the first person to dismiss fortune tellers and horoscopes and astrology mumbo-jumbo, and knew how this worked. Esmeralda would keep all her comments vague so they applied to almost anyone and wait for him to fill in the details. So, he kept his replies to a minimum.

"This phase is very personal," Lady Esmeralda said. "It has to do with Venus, the goddess of love and marriage."

Could Esmeralda be any more transparent, Danny thought. She saw two people – paying customers - who were obviously in a relationship and forecasted happily ever after for them. How prophetic and business savvy of her.

"So Montana, are you going to marry me?" he joked, laughing as he looked back to Lindsay, who didn't seem as amused as he was. A surprised look and crooked grin covered her face.

Esmeralda wagged a finger at him, "You're going to say that to someone, quite seriously, before you think. You have a strong hand," the woman continued with a smile, "and an old soul."

Danny rolled his eyes towards Lindsay. "Yeah, I'm ancient."

"You've experienced a significant amount of suffering."

"Who hasn't?" Danny muttered, but the woman only stroked his palm with a fingertip.

"A lot of this has been recent. Very real danger threatened your life and there's been trouble with a family member," she paused and her forehead creased as she traced his palm, "a brother."

Danny's heart skipped a beat and he wanted to jerk his hand free. Images of Louie and that day in the warehouse flashed before him. He was shocked that Esmeralda got that right. Life threatening situations were definitely not run of the mill occurrences and how could she have known he had a brother, let alone a sibling? Could this woman actually have some psychic ability? He remained silent as she went on.

"But these struggles have made you strong. Your instincts have done you right in your life."

The woman stopped and Danny was glad this was coming to an end. Lady Esmeralda had hit a little too close to home and, even though he didn't totally buy into her, he was a little freaked out. Instead, the woman pulled his hand closer and looked back and forth between his palm and Lindsay. "Do you trust your heart, young man?" the woman asked, looking him directly in the eye.

"What?" Danny scrunched his face in confusion. Trust his heart? He didn't know what that meant.

"Don't forget to trust your heart in addition to your instincts. It's a steady one. It will take you where you want to go, lead you in the right direction."

She might as well have been speaking in another language as far as Danny was concerned. All this talk about hearts and taking you where you want sounded like those crazy self help gurus he saw on late night infomercials when he couldn't sleep. A realization hit him as he thought about how strange this situation had become.

He leaned across the table and whispered, "She slip you a twenty to play a joke on me or something?" Danny asked with a nod to Lindsay.

"You can trust her too," the woman answered. "There are a lot of people in life that cause change. But one will, more than others, for you. There's only one who will fit you – body, mind and heart."

With that the woman let go of his hand and stood up. Danny sat speechless, trying to digest what he'd just heard. This fortune teller was implying that he and Lindsay would be falling in love and getting married some time soon. This had Danny squirming in his chair.

The truth was, he did love Lindsay, and that reality had him feeling off kilter. He'd never met a woman before that he could imagine being with for the rest of his life, but Lindsay had elicited these feelings from him that came so strongly and quickly that he wasn't sure how to react. He needed to get everything sorted out in his mind before doing or saying anything to Lindsay, but Lady Esmeralda was forcing a lot out there.

"Would you like your palm read, young lady?" Lady Esmeralda asked, gesturing for Lindsay to take a seat.

Lindsay hesitated, slightly disturbed over what she'd expected to be a silly amusement for the both of them. Lady Esmeralda actually seemed to know what she was talking about and by the way her eyes kept jumping to Lindsay, she believed Lindsay would be the one occupying Danny's mind, body and heart. As much as that thought made her giddy, it was also a bit unsettling.

Even though she'd only been with Danny for a short time she thought she might be falling in love with him, but how would she know, she wondered. She never felt this way before with any other man. She and Danny had taken such a bumpy road to get to where they were now, Lindsay had been perfectly content just enjoying what they had together, not wanting to rush anything or risk ruining things. But Lady Esmeralda was making her think about how strong her feelings were for Danny - and if he shared them. He was still sitting in the chair, staring at the floor, not giving away any sign of how he felt about his supposed fortune – making her anxiously wonder how he felt about her.

"Uhh, no thanks. We should get going," Lindsay finally answered. Popping out of his chair, Danny dropped twenty dollars on the table and practically ran out of the booth.

Danny pinched Lindsay's side as they made their way back out into the afternoon sunshine. "That was pretty lame, Montana. How much did it cost you to set her up with what to say?"

"I didn't."

"Get outta here."

"I didn't," she repeated and stuck her hands in her pockets instead of taking his. Was she really 'the one' who would occupy Danny's body, mind, and heart? "I just thought it'd be fun."

"Hold it." Danny put a hand on her arm, narrowed his eyes and studied her face. Either she was a great liar or she was as baffled as he. "Well, that was weird," he concluded.

"Yeah. Weird." Lindsay agreed.

They made their way down the boardwalk in silence.


	2. Fortune Cookie

"So, uh, how about some dinner?" Danny asked, finally breaking their silence as they reached the end of the boardwalk. He was in some strange state of shock, he decided, because other than his dinner invitation he was at a total loss for words. That never happened. Weird was the only adjective he could come up with to describe what had just taken place and he was stumbling with how to react. Part of him wanted to tell Lindsay how crazy Lady Esmeralda was – and make sure she agreed with him to confirm he was creeped out for no reason. But another nagging part of him believed she was legit – she had been right about more than one thing after all, most importantly Lindsay being the one for him.

He looked at her and wondered what she was thinking. She hadn't said anything since leaving the booth, which made him nervous. He felt he owed her an explanation of some sort but how do you explain something you didn't say or fully understand yourself. Danny felt so confused and just… weird.

"Sure," Lindsay replied, who had been lost in her own thoughts about Lady Esmeralda. Was what she said true? What did Danny think? Should she say something to him about it? Reminding herself that she was a fairly level headed person she decided not to let one woman's astrological instincts wreak havoc on her mind. She took Danny's hand as they headed towards the car. "Let's drive back to the city and grab a bite there."

* * *

"Let's play the 'in bed' game," Danny suggested as he threw a fortune cookie across the table to Lindsay. They'd stopped at their favorite Chinese place on their way home and were ending their meal with some saké - the prophecies of Lady Esmeralda seemingly long forgotten.

"What are you talking about?" Lindsay asked as she caught the cookie.

"You know, read the fortune cookie but add 'in bed' at the end of it. It's hilarious."

"We don't have that game back in Montana," Lindsay laughed. The simplest things amused Danny, she decided. Maybe dealing with crazy crime scenes and sometimes equally crazy people made you appreciate smaller things in life. Like fortune cookie games. "You go first."

Danny cracked open his cookie, and opened his mouth to start reading. He abruptly shut it when his stomach dropped and his mind caught up with what his eyes had just read. You have got to be kidding, he thought.

"Well, what is it?" Lindsay asked.

Danny looked at Lindsay and back down to the small piece of white paper. This day just keeps getting weirder. Up until three hours ago he would be the first to tell you that there was no such thing as fate or kismet, but somebody or something was obviously trying to prove a point here.

"Danny, don't get all embarrassed now. Spit it out."

Danny's mind scrambled with how to get out of this and hoped that Lindsay didn't notice the layer of sweat surely visible on his forehead. This wasn't how the game worked. He was supposed to get some saying that made it seem like he had unrelenting stamina in the sack – not _this_. He desperately tried to make up a proverb of his own on the fly – live each day to the fullest or maybe carpe diem. Carpe diem in bed? There was a reason he went into science he decided – creativity was not his strong suit. He would just read the fortune and not let Lindsay see how freaked out he was about it. Lesson learned, Danny realized – never read a fortune cookie only hours after a wacky fortune teller experience.

With a deep breath Danny read, "The one you love is closer than you think…in bed."

"Oh," Lindsay said, her eyes widening in surprise and heart fluttering with nervousness at the words. All this talk about love was crazy - and weird. It was just a silly piece of paper, she told herself. If he had picked up the cookie to the right or left of that one he could just as easily be telling her that any man can succeed at almost anything if he has unlimited enthusiasm…in bed. Danny was not destined to open that specific cookie and it didn't mean a thing. Right? "That's…pretty funny," she finally continued with a forced smile.

"Yeah." Finding comfort in his glass of saké, Danny took a few big gulps of the liquid. _I got it, okay universe or God or whatever_, Danny pleaded with whatever invisible forces were toying with him. He loved Lindsay. He didn't need a fortune cookie to tell him that. But he needed to say it when he was ready, when it felt right. "You're up." Hopefully Lindsay's cookie would not result in any more awkwardness.

Lindsay cautiously looked down at her cookie, biting her lower lip. Dragging Danny into the fortune teller's booth had been for fun and she didn't actually believe in that stuff. But with the way things were going today she had to question if there were some sort of karmic or cosmic energies at work. And what exactly were they trying to do, she wondered? Force her to think about her feelings for Danny? Mission accomplished. Admit that she loved him, perhaps? Get her a little bit panicked about Danny's feelings towards her? Check again. Her feelings were strong. Very strong. But acknowledging she loved him meant no turning back. If he didn't feel the same way she would be devastated – she did not even want to think about that. Instead she broke open her cookie and hoped for the best.

"Plan for many pleasures ahead…in bed." Lindsay blinked at the piece of paper then looked up at Danny. They stared at each other for a moment before both of them burst out laughing, Danny spitting out a little bit of the saké he had just sipped.

"Now that is not a fortune. That's a promise. In fact, I say we get out of here and make it a reality," Danny said, still laughing as he stood up from their booth. He was not going to get wrapped up in some old lady who looked into a crystal ball for a living. He and Lindsay were happy – right now – and that's all that mattered.

Throwing some bills on the table for the waitress' tip he glanced at the discarded paper from his cookie. Before Lindsay could notice, he quickly snatched it up and placed it into his wallet. 

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Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! There's one more chapter to come.

Even bigger thanks to **mel60** who beta'd this.


	3. Fortunate

"I'm not surprised, to be honest with you. He had it coming," Edna Morris said with no hesitation.

Danny and Lindsay looked at each other in surprise. Edna was the neighbor of the murder victim from their latest crime scene and they had both quickly come to the conclusion that she was a bit…quirky. A poof of untamed white hair covered her head, and her tiny frame drowned in oversized layers of a bright pink top and black skirt.

When they knocked on her door to question her she answered holding a burning bundle of sage. To cleanse the negative energies in the apartment building, Edna had explained. Now, she had moved on to sweeping her apartment floor with a broom made of cinnamon bristles – apparently this was another cleansing herb.

Neither Danny nor Lindsay knew if any of this was in fact true, but they'd take her word for it. Her apartment was lined with wall-to-wall book cases and a quick glance around revealed titles on astrology, herbs, natural medicine, and the afterlife. Each room in the apartment was separated by hangings beads and there were candles everywhere. A Persian cat kept weaving between her feet.

"Well he was a Leo for starters," Edna said matter-of-factly as she continued sweeping.

"Excuse me?" Danny asked.

"A Leo. His birth sign. A lion. He was hot-tempered, always shouting and yelling on his cell phone whenever I saw him. That kind of bad energy is bound to come back two-fold and kick you in the rear end. And the moons were not aligned this month for Leos. Something bad was bound to happen."

Danny bit his lip so not to laugh out loud. This woman was nuts, he thought. He would just ignore the crazy part of her statement and focus on clues. "Any idea who he was arguing with?"

"No, and I don't want to know either. I avoided him like the plague. I only saw him in passing. His aura was practically black. I didn't want him polluting me."

"I see," Danny said slowly, trying to digest this woman's reasoning. He turned to look at Lindsay and shrugged.

Lindsay fought her own laughter, trying to remain professional. New York City was definitely filled with eccentric people – a part of her job that Lindsay loved and hated at the same time. "Is there anything else you can tell us about your neighbor, Ms. Morris? Did he have a girlfriend? A lot of visitors?"

Edna abruptly stopped sweeping and looked at the detectives. Her forehead creased and her lips pursed, as if in deep thought. Lindsay was hopeful that she was remembering something about their vic that would help with the case.

"You must be a Scorpio," she finally said, directing her statement to Danny.

"What?" This time Danny could not hold back the laughter.

"I sensed it when you came in. Your energy is intense. You know, when it's properly unleashed it can actually change your entire life."

Danny and Lindsay were completely dumbfounded, once again giving each other looks of disbelief.

"Don't look so worried," Edna continued. "It can be destructive but it can also be a good thing. This is a good month for Scorpios. You can achieve unusual levels of awareness and soul growth, especially when it comes to love."

Resuming her sweeping, Edna sang as she moved around the room, "Who keeps an arrow in his bow, and if you prod, he lets it go? A fervent friend, a subtle foe, Scorpio!"

Danny stood there with his mouth hanging open, not caring how rude it was. If he had looked at Lindsay he would have seen an equally baffled expression. And no doubt, she was thinking the same thing as he. What was going on with these old ladies talking to him about his life and future and...love.

If he didn't know better he would have bet that Lindsay had somehow set this up as a joke. Logistically he knew that was impossible and neither of them had talked about the fortune teller incident since it happened two days ago. Danny was happy to consider it forgotten, but Edna was not letting it remain that way.

Realizing this questioning was getting out of hand, Danny attempted to regain focus and concentrate on what they had come to do.

"Speaking of unusual, did you hear any strange sounds last night? Anything out of the ordinary?" He asked.

"No, but I'm not the best person to ask. I meditate every night from eight to nine and go right to bed. That's when the magnetic pull of the moon is the most healing. I don't hear a thing when I sleep."

Edna was proving to be no help. She had started going about the apartment lighting a majority of the candles on the tables and shelves, a mix of spicy scents quickly filling the air. Before they could excuse themselves she handed Danny and Lindsay each a stone.

"It's called Tiger's Eye," she said as she dropped one into each of their palms, closing their fingers around it. "It's good for your energy."

Once again focusing her attention to Danny she said, "I'm glad you're on this case. Scorpios have an excellent ability to determine the truth and can be fanatical at times about it. I will sleep well tonight knowing you're catching whoever did this."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," Danny said as he closely examined the amber colored stone as if he expected to see actual waves or fumes emanate from it.

Lindsay, who had been entertained by Edna's analysis of Danny though slightly disturbed by the third reference to their love life by a stranger in as many days, pocketed her stone. She'd take whatever help she could get in battling through crime scenes, even inanimate objects from odd old ladies.

"To be in a relationship with him you must be a Cancer, am I right?" This time Edna had taken an interest in Lindsay's sign.

Lindsay's mind spun. How the heck did this woman know her sign? And more importantly how did she know she was in a relationship with Danny? Before Lindsay could recover from her shock and respond the woman did it for her.

"You're definitely a Cancer, I can tell. Don't give in to your instincts to worry, especially when it comes to him," she said, waving a hand dismissively at Danny. "He's a romantic at heart and Cancers are patient. Scorpios and Cancers both tend to be a bit guarded. Just because you don't say the word doesn't mean you don't love each other."

A flutter of panic swept through Lindsay. She avoided looking at Danny this time. The fortune teller had hinted at their future together, the fortune cookie could more easily be dismissed, but Edna could not have been any more blunt and Lindsay wanted to disappear into the floor. How do you ignore _that_, she thought? If they didn't address this issue that kept being thrust in front of them she was sure it would awkwardly hang in the air between them like a huge, scary question mark.

Lindsay was grateful for the ring of her cell phone that broke their uncomfortable silence. She was even more grateful when she saw she was needed at another crime scene. She wanted to get out of this room and fast. Edna looked like a sweet old lady but there was something seriously bizarre about her.

"Mac needs me at another scene. You okay here by yourself?" she asked the question out of politeness, but was already halfway out the door.

"Yeah, fine." Danny wished he could leave with Lindsay. He wasn't sure why but his life had turned into a weird Twilight Zone episode and it was freaking him out.

* * *

Lindsay was grateful for the thinking time the car ride to the scene offered. Maybe fate or _something_ was intervening, pushing Danny and Lindsay in front of Lady Esmeralda, that fortune cookie and Edna Morris so that they could confront their true feelings. Lord knows all three were making declarations of love for them. Or maybe she was reading too much into innocent coincidences. Either way, it was out there between them, unspoken and awkward.

At first, Lindsay had been afraid that maybe things would get old between her and Danny, that their attraction would fizzle after they finally acted on it. But the longer they were together, the more she seemed to need to stay that way. Edna Morris had been right about one thing – Danny was romantic. He brought her flowers and silly little gifts. And she had been completely happy just enjoying and living for the moment. She hadn't expected to fall in love. But she had. _I love Danny Messer_, she said out loud to herself as if it made the sudden admission more official. The realization made her dizzy. Lindsay laughed at how afraid she'd been at the idea and how excited it made her feel. She'd feared it would be too much for her to handle, but instead she knew she wanted even more. She would just tell Danny how she felt and accept whatever happened. That's the way fate worked, right?

* * *

Danny Messer was on a mission. He'd hightailed it out of Edna Morris' apartment when she started singing more jingles about various astrology signs, and he'd done nothing but think about Lindsay Monroe ever since. And how much he loved her. He wasn't sure if Edna Morris had put a spell on him or the fortune teller had gotten under his skin but he needed to tell her or he was sure he would explode. Her words kept running through his head, "_Just because you don't say the word doesn't mean you don't love each other."_

He already knew he loved Lindsay. Sure, the thought of saying those words was a little scary but he wanted to be honest with her so that there were no misunderstandings. No confusion over what Edna or Lady Esmeralda or the fortune cookie had said. Edna had been right that Lindsay was a worrier and there was no way he wanted her concerned over how he felt. Even if he accepted that fortunes and karma were real, he wasn't about to let them interfere with what he had with Lindsay. Things would happen on his terms. It couldn't wait another minute. He was still trying to figure out how to tell her, what words to use, what tone. But it would come to him, he thought as he stalked his way around the lab looking for Lindsay.

Finally spotting her talking with Hawkes he stormed into the break room and without a word lifted Lindsay off the floor and over his shoulder.

"Danny!" Lindsay shrieked as she resisted his hold on her. "What are you doing!"

"I need to talk to you. Hawkes, please excuse us." With that he started carrying her towards the elevator.

"Danny put me down! I can talk to you right here. What is wrong with you?" The initial shock had worn off and her temper kicked in. Her kicks and shoves were futile, nothing weakened Danny's grip on her.

"No. We can't be interrupted by anybody…or anything," he said, thinking about the strange occurrences of the past couple of days. Lindsay thought she heard him mumble something about fortune tellers.

"You've lost your mind!" Lindsay was certain of this as Danny continued striding purposefully down the hallway. People laughed and pointed and stared as they passed.

Trying a different tactic she calmed her voice and tried reasoning, "Danny please put me down and I'll forget this ever happened. You've embarrassed me in front of our co-workers, but I will put aside that mortification if you please just _put me down_."

When Danny remained silent and tightened his grip on her she accepted her fate, knowing his stubbornness would not be beaten. Even when he stepped into the elevator and asked the tech already riding in it how he was doing as if he didn't have a woman hauled over his shoulder, Lindsay remained calm. Why be embarrassed when there was obviously nothing she could do to stop this mood Danny was in?

When Danny stepped off the elevator and made his way down a short hallway Lindsay realized where they were headed. He finally put her down after he'd pushed through the heavy door that led onto the roof.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, fighting the urge to punch him in the chest.

"I need to talk to you."

"Well spill it. What the heck is so important that you needed to drag me up here like that?" The second Lindsay said the words a realization crawled into her mind that had her feeling queasy. Why would Danny want to talk to her privately? Was he going to end things with her? There was no denying the past few days had both of them thinking about their relationship. Had Danny come to a different conclusion than she? Did he not love her? There hadn't been any signs that he was unhappy, but isn't that how it always happened?

Danny's knees were shaking a little bit and his palms sweaty. "Lindsay, this isn't what I expected…to feel…or happen. And some really weird things have been happening lately."

Oh god, Lindsay thought. Here it comes. This is it. All this talk about love and marriage had scared Danny away. She felt her breath shorten and heart race. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. Fate was cruel, she decided. Right when she was ready to move forward with Danny, he was going to break her heart.

Before he did or said anything foolish, Danny decided to just spit it out. "But I love you, Lindsay."

Lindsay's heart stumbled, her throat closed. She shut her eyes, soaking in the flood of emotions that streamed through her. Well, that was definitely not a break up. Opening her eyes, she looked into Danny's and smiled. "Say it again," she asked. She wanted to make sure it was real, that she hadn't imagined it. Danny loved her. She loved him. Perfect.

Danny stepped towards her and pulled her close. She hadn't laughed in his face. Or run in the other direction. That was a good sign. He kissed her, her brow, her cheeks, her lips. "I love you."

Lindsay couldn't help the small giggle that escaped from her. She would never get tired of hearing those words she decided. "I love you too, Danny Messer."

Grinning, Danny held her closely, laughing at the way things had a funny way of working out sometimes.

* * *

A/N: The Scorpio jingle came from a website that I can't seem to find again. Wish I could credit it properly, but instead just know that it's not mine. 

Thanks for reading and reviewing and an especially big thanks to **mel60** for beta-ing!


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